


Glitter on the Floor

by everytuesday



Series: riverswap [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Getting Together, M/M, Trans Archie Andrews, Watching Jennifer's Body With Your Lesbian Best Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:47:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26909887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everytuesday/pseuds/everytuesday
Summary: “Nothing good ever happens at these things,” FP mutters, mostly for his own benefit, and he’s not exactly wrong, but long after the rest of the drunken teenagers slouch back to their corners of the town, it ends like this: two boys kissing in a bedroom, two girls holding hands in a diner.Jughead convinces Veronica to help him throw Betty a birthday party, but Betty is a weird weirdo who doesn't fit in and doesn't WANT to fit in. Also featuring: sad teens with daddy issues
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Veronica Lodge
Series: riverswap [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747600
Comments: 9
Kudos: 33
Collections: riverswap





	Glitter on the Floor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladystark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladystark/gifts).



> okay so this is set in the riverswap verse which is just kind of incomprehensible, but basically everyone has the same biological parents, but through a series of divorces, second marriages, adoptions, and a kidnapping, they grew up with different family dynamics and swapped general storylines. Betty&Jughead, Archie&Veronica, Kevin&Cheryl, and Chuck&Ethel are the most relevant swaps for the purposes of this fic.
> 
> Specific families are in the end notes if you want to know the details.

If Veronica were a better person, she would turn Jughead down when he accosts her in the hallway to propose throwing Betty a birthday party. If not at first mention of the idea, then she should at least object when they realize Hal and Gladys being out of town means the Cooper-Wilkins home is the only venue available.

Veronica’s not sure she’s a bad person-- she doesn’t want to be a bad person-- but she is selfish and she’ll own up to it in a heartbeat. There’s something about the idea of spending an evening getting drunk off some stolen scotch that has a particular appeal to her, for reasons she doesn’t want to think too deeply about. Reasons Betty would understand and likely wouldn’t hold against her for too long.

“Any idea why Ethel is giving you serious evil eye, Jug?” Cheryl’s voice interrupts Veronica’s musings. She scans the room for Ethel over her shoulder and spots her softball teammate a table away. She’s whispering with Josie and Midge, but her eyes are locked in on Jughead.

“No clue,” Jughead says dismissively.

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Veronica asks.

When he shakes his head, Archie offers, “Do you want  _ me  _ to talk to her?”

“Definitely not,” Jughead blanches. “Can we just focus on the party? I’m thinking… minimalist decorations, stealing my step-dad’s booze, and keeping it small because JB will absolutely snitch if we don’t leave enough cake for her.”

“Inner circle only,” Archie agrees.

“Ronnie, you think you can lure her over after the movie?”

“On it, boss,” Veronica says and swallows down any guilt with the reminder that they all need this. Even Betty.  _ Especially  _ Betty, if she can manage to let her hair down for a night.

* * *

Going to the theater with Veronica is one of the few things about her birthday Betty truly loves and the owner, Jess, knows Betty’s tastes well enough that she seems to have curated a list of movies Betty enjoys to feature special reruns of on her birthday into the next decade or so.  _ Jennifer’s Body _ is her pick for today and Betty is thrilled at the prospect of enjoying some fun horror and forgetting about the real, unfun horror of Riverdale for a couple hours.

The bijou auditorium is cold and doesn’t get completely dark. The sound system started to give out well over a decade ago and now the right side is always a little louder than the left, but the reel of old local ads she can recite by heart seem to welcome her home as she claims her favorite seat near the back that she’s pretty sure she’s imprinted into.

Betty smiles involuntarily when a familiar jingle starts up and the ad for Andrews Construction appears, featuring a 5th grade Veronica scrunching up her nose as she tries very hard to remember her lines, “ _ If you need it built, Andrews Construction has got you!” _

“Call 845-555-9743 for your quote today,” now-Veronica mimics as she joins Betty with popcorn and malt balls successfully obtained from the concession stand. Betty grabs the bucket of popcorn and Veronica drops into the seat next to her.

“I love my dad, but if I have to see that commercial one more time, I’m gonna scream,” she whispers as the commercial fades out with the Andrews family trio waving at the camera. Veronica leans over and shakes the malt balls toward Betty, “Magic mix?”

“Obviously,” Betty holds out the popcorn bucket and Veronica empties the box into it.

Another few ads play, and they chatter over them before lapsing into silence as the theater gets mildly dimmer and the movie starts. Veronica has somehow managed never to see it before now; Betty must have only ever roped Jughead into watching it with her during movie nights.

Twenty minutes in, Betty realizes that’s probably been a good thing.

_ “But we always share your bed when we have slumber parties.” _

She’d somehow managed to forget about the lesbian makeout scene until now.

_ “I’m not gonna bite you.” _

It’s nice that Veronica isn’t a demon, she ponders absently and then wonders why she’s thinking something that weird and specific.

_ “Is that my evil dead t-shirt?” _

There’s something about sitting in a dark theater next to Veronica ,watching a blond haired girl making out with her dark haired best friend that tightens every nerve in Betty’s body like Veronica tunes her guitar. She’s hyper-aware that her best friend, her lesbian best friend is a foot away and single and there is every green light in the book telling her she should go for it.

She dares herself to peek over at Veronica and finds Veronica’s eyes glued to the screen, her mouth parted slightly as the two girls kiss. Betty snaps her attention back to the screen, in time for Needy to curse Veronica--  _ Jennifer _ out.

Betty shovels two handfuls of popcorn in her mouth, one after the other, and nearly chokes on a stray malt ball. Veronica casts a worried glance in her direction, but Betty refuses to make eye contact again until the movie ends.

“Thanks for taking me,” Veronica says as they clamber into Veronica’s pick-up, to which Betty can only nod meekly.

They’ve known each other so long, a quiet drive home wouldn’t be that unusual, but tonight is

different and Betty’s wondering if she’s somehow managed to ruin the only good thing about her birthday.

Once they’ve pulled into the driveway, Betty grabs for the door handle, intent on heading directly to bed, but Veronica clears her throat, “Jughead wanted you to stop by before we go home. He has a present for you.”

Veronica hasn’t been able to pull a convincing poker face with Betty since elementary school, and they both know it, “He planned a surprise party, didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” she relents immediately. “He just wants you to have a nice birthday. Where’s your issue with celebrating another trip around the sun coming from?”

The idea that Veronica doesn’t know surprises her, but maybe her family has done a better job of hiding the chaos over the years than she thought they did, “When I was a kid, Mom would try to get Hal to come and acknowledge the fact that he had another daughter, which…” Betty gestures to herself, leaving the  _ obviously, he never did _ unsaid, “After the party, she’d get really upset at him and then Charles would get upset and blame himself for Hal kicking Mom out. And it’d just be really weird and sad. Parties are fine, but afterwards something always goes wrong, so why bother, you know?”

“It doesn’t have to be that way. Your parents aren’t here,” Veronica presses. “Make new memories.”

“In Hal Cooper’s house?”

“Yes,” Veronica says, leaning in and taking Betty’s hand. “Screw him. Have a stupid high school party with your friends in that house and spill red wine all over his carpet and-- I don’t know, throw up in a potted plant. Break a vase.” When Betty doesn’t cave, Veronica gets a mischievous sparkle in her eye and suggests, “I could carry you inside.”

Betty could kiss her and it’s the worst thing she’s ever wanted to do. She forces herself to laugh, “I’m sure you’d love to show off your big softball muscles.”

“I am  _ very  _ strong,” Veronica says, teasing as she gets out of the car and walks around to Betty’s side, giving Betty a moment to gasp in a lungful of air before Veronica opens the door and leans against the frame, “Whatever you want. We can go back to my room and play video games all night too. Your choice.”

Betty can picture the weeks of nagging and off-the-charts passive aggression from Jughead they’d both endure if she ditched. And however ill-advised this idea is, the fact remains that he’s practically her brother and he means well.

Betty grabs Veronica’s hand, “Don’t let me go.”

Veronica steps back and pulls Betty along with her out of the car. Betty kicks the door shut and loops her arm through Veronica’s, hanging tight as they cross the yard up to the Cooper house.

“You with me, B?”

Betty nods distantly. Veronica opens the door and an enthusiastic chorus of  _ Surprise! _ s greet them.

“She knows!” Veronica shouts over them. “Sorry, I blew that one.”

“Thanks guys,” Betty doesn’t bother faking enthusiasm.

“Happy Birthday, Bets!” Jughead rushes in first to pull her away from Veronica and hug her, grinning. He already smells like beer, which is probably his best idea of the day so far.

Archie is right behind him and she finds she’s less annoyed at him than she expected. She still doesn’t  _ like  _ him, but this incident in particular isn’t his fault, and she manages to mutter her thanks when he wishes her a happy birthday.

“Hey, B!” Toni appears next and Betty is admittedly always happy to see Toni, even when accompanied by a slightly drunk Cheryl. “Think your tenth birthday party was better -- I remember lighting something on fire? -- but this is nice too.”

Betty gets through obligatory greetings with Cheryl, Chuck (who Archie apparently invited for some inexplicable reason), and Jellybean. JB doesn’t move from the couch and only gives her a stiff salute, which Betty copies, after which Veronica emerges from the kitchen with a cake.

The group sings a loud, off-key rendition of happy birthday and Betty allows herself a grudging acknowledgement that it’s not the worst birthday she’s ever had. So far.

* * *

Jughead goes to the kitchen looking for a knife for the cake and instead finds Archie hovering near the sink, quickly wiping at his eyes when he realizes Jughead is there. Jughead wants to give him some privacy, but he also can’t get himself to abandon a crying friend in the middle of his kitchen.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just family stuff. It’s all kind of a mess right now,” Archie’s face breaks and for a moment he looks like he’s about to sob, but he seems to get himself back in check and shakes his head, taking a steady breath, “Sorry-- Sorry, I should not be doing this at Betty’s party.”

The older he gets, the more Jughead is becoming convinced Mr. Andrews and Mr. Keller are statistical outliers and whoever came up with the concept of fathers made a serious error in judgement.

“You’re fine,” Jughead says lightly. “Me and Betty have had the daddy issues market cornered in Riverdale for the past decade. It’s nice to have a little competition.”

“You two have never explained to me how your families are connected.”

“That’s a story for another, drunker time. Speaking of...?” he nods his head toward the liquor cabinet.

Archie perks up at the suggestion, “I’m the rich heir from New York, aren’t I supposed to be corrupting  _ you  _ with my decadent lifestyle?”

Jughead rolls his eyes and shifts around to stand side-by-side with Archie, “My mom and step-dad are fighting because of me.”

“I’m sure it’s not--”

“Nope, it’s definitely me. And to be clear: screw my step-dad; he sucks. But my mom shouldn’t be risking her marriage over me. She grew up on the southside, put in the work for me and my sister to have a better life and I’m single handedly burning it all down. Up your daddy issues game, Lodge.”

“I’ve trusted my dad my whole life. We’re  _ close  _ and he’s never let me down, especially when I started transitioning. And now, with how shady Hermosa has been acting, I don’t know if-- I think my dad might have something to do with Jason and if that’s true, I don’t know anything about who he is. Or who I am.”

Archie really knows how to rise to a challenge. FP might be a deadbeat dad and Hal might be an even worse step-father, but murder isn’t something Jughead has ever had to consider either of them capable of and he can’t fathom what that would do someone with a seemingly great dad.

It’s not his instinct, but something tells Jughead this is the part where a good friend would hug Archie, so he does, which seems to catch Archie by surprise.

“Thanks,” Archie mumbles.

Jughead can sense someone watching them and quickly steps back, in time to see Betty and Veronica in the doorway. 

“Sorry,” Betty says quickly. “You never came back with a knife and JB is getting antsy for cake.”

“Yeah, uh, it’s a drawer over here--” Jughead starts rifling around for a knife and finds one just as the doorbell rings.

His stomach does an unpleasant flip as he thinks about FP walking through the door a second after he’s been angsting about daddy issues to Archie, but he shoves the anxiety 

down. It’s Betty’s day and she loves her step-dad; he can deal.

“Uhh, Jug?” Cheryl’s voice carries in from the front of the house.

_ “Surprise!”  _ a decidedly not-FP voice calls and Jughead scrambles out of the kitchen and into the hall just in time to watch Ethel and Kevin leading a battalion of teenagers armed with a keg into his house. He starts to protest, but it’s too late and he can see Betty fleeing the oncoming hoard out of the corner of his eye.

* * *

Veronica is a solid two beers and a scotch in, so her plans to chase after Betty and make sure she’s okay are completely derailed when she catches sight of Val. Her heart doesn’t have the decency not to start thumping wildly in her chest, nor her brain the clarity to not rush to several conclusions about why Val is  _ here _ .

Melody and Reggie flank her, the latter of whom gives Veronica a scowl when he catches her eye and Veronica thinks maybe approaching Val just yet isn’t a great idea and she should try talking to Betty. She’s smart, she’ll know what to do.

Veronica elbows her way through party guests and ends up finding Betty in the garage, perched on the hood of Hal’s car and huddled into her denim jacket.

“I just saw Val,” Veronica says, closing the door to the garage behind her quickly. “Which doesn’t mean anything, because this is your party, at Jughead’s house, but-- my house is next door and we’re best friends. She knew I’d be here, so maybe…?”

A slight frown crosses Betty’s face and Veronica has just enough awareness through the haze of booze to know she’s said the wrong thing. She shuffles over to sit next to Betty on the hood, “Sorry.”

“Why’d you let him do this, V?” Betty asks. “You know me better than this.”

Oh. That’s what’s happening. Veronica kicks the Valerie-related thoughts into a corner of her brain for later, “Jughead wanted you to have a break and his house was the only one that was empty this weekend. He just wanted you to have a nice time. Things have been rough for him this year.”

“I’m living on your floor.”

“His sister--”

“Polly’s my sister too,” Betty snaps. “The kid my dad decided to keep, and then ended up sending away too. It’s like you forget how insane my life is; you’ve always had the perfect family--”

Betty stops herself and Veronica should probably be mad, but for some reason she just finds it incredibly funny and starts giggling, “We both know that’s crap. That’s never been true, and it  _ definitely  _ isn’t now.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t--

There’s a soft knock on the door and the pair look over as FP Jones pokes his head into the garage.

“What are you doing here?” Betty stiffens.

“Here for the party,” FP gives the present he’s carrying a little shake. “Didn’t realize you had this many friends.”

“I don’t. And fair warning, you’re the only adult here,” Betty says, to which FP gives a shrug. “Jug call you?”

“He asked if I’d come, said he wanted you to have a nice birthday for a change.”

“Yeah, he’s a real jerk,” Betty mutters and FP lets out a quiet chuckle.

“I’m gonna find a place to set this down,” FP says, giving them a small nod and backing out of the garage. “Happy Birthday, kid.”

FP gives them a small nod and moves back out of the garage. As soon as the door closes, Betty groans and leans back against the hood of the car.

“What if I bashed Hal’s windows in with a baseball bat? Would that make me feel better?”

“I think you’d go to jail.”

“Damn, there goes that plan,” Betty mumbles. She cracks an eye open up at Veronica, “Get me a drink?”

“Of course,” Veronica says, flopping sideways so Betty has to look at her, “Happy Birthday, Bets.”

Betty gives a small smile that makes her eyes crinkle and something about it makes Veronica give into the impulse to plant a sloppy kiss on Betty’s forehead with a giggle. She rolls off the car, swaying when the ground doesn’t feel quite right underneath her. Some tiny, sober part of her brain tells her she might’ve just made a questionable choice she’ll have to deal with later, but she has every intention of drowning that part to death with more of Hal Cooper’s scotch.

* * *

As soon as Veronica leaves, the kiss is compartmentalized away for later because Betty absolutely cannot deal with it right now. What she can deal with is murdering Jughead: it’s a simple, measurable goal within reasonable expectations. Not that she’s ever had to put it to the test, but she’s definitely stronger than him.

What she doesn’t expect is to find Ethel accosting him in the entryway.

“ _ Don’t _ ,” Jughead is saying.

“Or what?” Ethel laughs. “Everyone will know how unhinged you are? Don’t worry about it. I like a bad boy.”

“Can I talk to you?” Betty clears her throat and Jughead looks like he’s jumped out of his skin.

“Yeah, let’s go somewhere,” Jughead grabs her hand, eager to escape Ethel. They head upstairs and lurk in the hallway outside his room.

“Do I want to know what that was about?”

“Nothing groundbreaking, just Ethel being a nightmare as usual.”

“Great,” Betty folds her arms. “Why is FP here when there’s a fucking keg? He has a drinking problem.”

“I know that. I just had no idea Ethel and Kevin would show up. This was supposed to be a nice break for you. I know it’s been tough and I wanted--”

She knows where this is going and her irritation must be showing because he shuts up mid-sentence.

“You just wanted to alleviate your guilt that you got the nice house and the sisters and the stable parents while I got a trailer on the southside with  _ your  _ deadbeat dad,” she can see the hurt in his eyes, but she’s worked up now, “You can’t fix that! This is my life, Jughead. It’s weird!  _ I’m weird  _ and I don’t get a ‘break’ from that. I’ll always be the lesbo gang kid from the southside, whose dad would rather raise--” her breath hitches and she has to pause to keep herself from tearing up. “Whose dad would rather raise a stranger’s kids than his own daughter.”

“Is that how you think people see you?” Jughead asks quietly.

“I know that’s what they see,” Betty snaps. “You shouldn’t have done this. I thought you and V knew me better than that.”

“It’s just a party.”

“It’s not. But I’m fine now, so. Go out and impress  _ Archie  _ with your amazing party hosting skills.” And Betty must have struck a nerve because Jughead gets a deer-in-the-headlights look. It’s enough for her to turn and stomp back down the stairs, satisfied at least temporarily. She’ll sneak back across the street and steal Ronnie’s bed for the night. Maybe convince Mr. Andrews to make them pancakes in the morning. It’s the least she’s earned.

Back on the main floor, Betty sees Veronica trying to talk to Val and feels a flash of something unpleasant in her gut, but she brushes it off and pushes past them toward the door. Chuck tries to say something overly kind to her and she waves him off. Then it’s Ethel stepping in front of her, blocking her path.

“Where are  _ you  _ going, birthday girl?”

“Not in the mood, Ethel.”

“But we haven’t even played a party game,” Ethel says, putting her hands on Betty’s shoulders and spinning her around back toward the party and prodding her toward the living room.

Ethel and Kevin take their places in the center of the room. Betty spares a withering look in the direction of Veronica, Jughead, and Archie, all sitting in dining room chairs and looking various levels of uncomfortable as the rest of the crowd circles up.

“Welcome to Secrets and Sins,” Kevin says, turning slowly to address the group. “If my brother’s death has revealed anything, it’s that everyone in this accursed town has secrets. And everyone’s done their share of sinning.”

“It’s a variation of truth or dare,” Ethel says. “In which we own our truths by telling it like it is.”

“Birthday girls first, right?” Kevin says, with a sickly sweet smile and Betty ponders sprinting for the door but isn’t sure she could actually outpace Kevin in time. “Have you actually told Archie about the absolute chaos of your life? Your bastard half-brother showing up to wreck two marriages. The dad who doesn’t want anything to do with you and the step-dad who’s a literal gang member.”

“That’s fifteen year old gossip. Honestly, I’m disappointed, Kev.”

“Yeah  _ Kev _ ,” Archie’s a step behind Betty, his tone mimicking hers perfectly. “Want to talk about weird families, what about you and Jason? You know being  _ step _ -brothers doesn’t make it okay, right? I bet he figured that out, as you got older. And then he chose Polly over you and you shot him in the head. That’s gotta set gay rights back, what, thirty years?”

“As if, Lodge,” Kevin rolls his eyes, unphased. “Meanwhile, you and  _ your  _ insane bastard sister show up in Riverdale for a fresh start and you hook up with the first closeted -- emphasis on  _ closet  _ \-- lesbian in sight. What’s your damage? Everyone knew Veronica was a lesbian. Well, everyone except Jughead.”

Jughead rolls his eyes.

“Oh speaking of Juggie: I’ve got one for him,” Ethel says, delight sparking in her eyes. “The local sweater boy has a dark side. My mom works with the sheriff and apparently Jughead got hauled into the station a month ago for raging out on his step-dad. Dear old Daddy Cooper’s face was tenderized. God knows what he would’ve done to him if his mom hadn’t been there to stop it. But you’re his friends, so you all knew that, right?”

Betty sees Veronica and Archie both turn to look at Jughead at the same time she does. She knew Jug had been acting off lately, but getting in a physical fight with Hal? Over what?

“Dilton Doiley plays with guns,” Jughead throws out, eager to get eyes off him.

“And then someone got  _ murdered _ . If anything that just makes him more forward-thinking than the rest of us,” she twists back around to set her gaze on Dilton, “I know you’ve  _ something _ , Doiley, right?”

“I’m in; this game is sick,” Dilton says, gleefully. “The day Jason went missing, I saw Ms. Grundy's car by Sweetwater River. I told Betty and Jughead, and then, Ms. Grundy quit her job and left Riverdale, like, two days later. And let's not forget that Veronica was also at the Sweetwater that morning.”

“Holy shit,” Kevin’s eyes widen in delight. “Is that why you became an Indigo Girl overnight? A scandalous lesbian affair with your teacher?”

“Don’t say anything,” Archie says, nudging Veronica’s side.

“God, no wonder it didn’t work out with Val,” Ethel laughs, “Are you even gay or did she make--?”

Betty sees red and launches out of her chair, decking Ethel. Ethel staggers backward into Kevin. He manages to keep her on her feet so that she recovers enough to swing right back at Betty, much harder, and send Betty crashing into an end table. People start yelling overhead while Betty lies dazed in a pile of shattered ceramic.

FP catches her arm and drags her upright, “Betty?”

“I’m fine.”

“Your cheek--”

“I said I’m fine!” Betty shoves him back, angry and wanting to hurt something. And FP makes for such an easy target. He seems to catch onto that too, stepping back with raised hands, though she can still see a glint of hurt in his eyes. He turns away from her toward the rest of the crowd, “Okay, out! Party’s over!”

Betty doesn’t need to be told twice before she rushes out the front door.

* * *

The kids filter out in a blur until Jughead is alone with Archie and JB in the mess of his house.

“I’m not telling mom and Hal, but she’s definitely gonna figure it out,” JB says, before sprinting up the stairs with a piece of cake in hand. Jughead’s pretty sure she might be the only person who actually got to eat any of it and honestly, good for her.

He sways a little and then slumps into the couch, groaning. Archie comes to perch on the armrest beside him, “You okay?”

No, not in the slightest, but he doesn’t want Archie to make assumptions more than he wants to curl up into the couch and cry, so he starts rambling, “Hal sent Polly away after he tried to pressure her into having an abortion. When I found out, I don’t know what happened. I just got  _ so  _ angry, it was like I blacked out, and I punched him and I kept punching him until my mom pulled me off him. And then Hal called the cops on me and apparently it got back to Ethel Muggs. So. That’s where I’m at.”

“No one’s gonna remember the shit she said about you by Monday.”

Jughead peeks up at him, “You’ll remember. And Betty and Veronica will remember.”

“I accused Kevin of pseudo-incest, I think if anyone is getting grief for what was said and done here tonight, it’s me. Plus, personally, I think beating up your shit dad is pretty hot.”

Jughead chokes out a short laugh, but quickly sobers, “I screwed up with Betty tonight. And Hal before and I just, I’m fucking everything up.”

“You’re not,” Archie says. “It’s not your fault that your parents chose to blow up their marriages and make all your lives telenovela-levels of complicated.”

“What if they hadn’t, though? Do you ever think about that? If our parents had made different choices and we were different. Would we be better off?”

“I’m not sure,” Archie says, thoughtfully. “But we probably wouldn't have met, and that would've been a tragedy of epic proportions.”

Jughead gives another short laugh, then stares ahead, frowning, “I’m worried that there’s something wrong with me, though. That attacking Hal like that was peeling back a layer to who I really am underneath and one day I’ll snap.”

“You won’t,” Archie says. “But if you do, I’ll help you bury the bodies.”

“Thanks, Arch.” Jughead tries to joke, but he knows he means it more than he’s supposed to mean it.

Archie peers down at him with a soft smile, all warm brown eyes and sincerity and Jughead finds himself remembering their debate team kiss, a million years ago. Archie leans in and Jughead doesn’t think, just meets him and falls into the moment, into the softness of Archie’s lips against his, the pounding in his chest, Archie’s hand resting against his cheek.

Archie shifts, sliding off the arm of the couch and coming to straddle Jughead’s lap, pausing a moment to pull back and look in Jughead’s eyes, “Is this--?”

Jughead drags him down for another kiss, hands moving from Archie’s neck down his arms and coming to rest on hips, too scared to do more than hold them there.

“Upstairs,” Jughead mutters. “If my dad--”

“He’s out of town,” Archie reminds him, then looks over his shoulder to the staircase, “Probably more comfortable that way though, huh?”

Through the haze of alcohol and hormones, Jughead gets the brilliant idea to pick Archie up and musters up enough courage to grip Archie’s hips. He tries to stand, pulling Archie up with him, but. Archie lets out a yelp and wriggles out of Jughead’s grip, nearly falling over when he gets his feet back on the ground.

They stare at each other a moment, Jughead mortified, and Archie starts laughing, “That was-- I appreciate the effort. We’ll be faster if we just sprint up the stairs though.”

They nod at each other, and then bolt for it. Jughead’s hand falls into place at the small of Archie’s back as they scramble up the stairs to his room.

* * *

The adrenaline rush of the fight left Veronica both very sober and very guilty. She doesn’t bother saying goodbye to the boys before she leaves; they’ll get things sorted out eventually. Jughead and Betty will talk later, but for now Veronica is worried about her and Betty, which is how she ends up at Pop’s, hovering next to a booth.

“This seat taken?” she asks.

Betty shakes her head, not looking up. Veronica slides down next to her, speaking before she’s even settled into the booth, “I’m sorry I talked you into this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Betty mutters.

“It is,” Veronica says. “I should’ve told Jughead it was a bad idea. I let him talk me into it when I knew better.”

“I’ve already yelled at him for it and I really--” Betty’s voice cracks, “I really don’t want to yell at you right now.”

“Are you okay?” Veronica asks softly. Betty laughs, but Veronica doesn’t let her wiggle out an answer, waiting until Betty finally speaks.

“That house is everything I never got to have and being in it reminds me of everything I’m not. I’m not a perfect girl next door. I’m not some gorgeous, softball-playing-- I’m not you. I’m not Jughead. I’m just a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who likes to play pretend. And if I stop, then maybe--” Betty doesn’t want to finish her sentence, but Veronica doesn’t say anything, just watches her quietly with too-kind eyes and Betty  _ has _ to finish then. “Maybe you won’t love me anymore.”

“I’ll always love you,” Veronica says, grabbing her hand tight. “I love you and I think it might kill me and it makes me do stupid things when I’m drunk that are super out of line and--”

“No,” Betty cuts her off. “The only person who was out of line was Ethel; I wanted to kill her for saying that shit about you.”

“She’s just a stupid mean girl and I don’t care what she says,” Veronica insists and wonders if insisting it long enough will make it true. “I just don’t want things to ever be weird between us. I shouldn’t have just kissed you like that. I know you’re not…”

Betty says, so quietly Veronica almost doesn’t catch it, “I might be, you know.”

“What?”

“It sort of slipped out while I was yelling at Jughead and I’m not even sure I meant it to, but I said that I’m-- You know, like you.”

“Oh.”

Betty looks down at her hands, “So it’s fine.”

Fine for her to plant sloppy drunk kisses on her forehead. Or maybe… “And if I, in theory, wanted to do it again? Would that be okay?”

Betty straightens from her slouch over the table, moving in so quickly Veronica doesn’t quite know what’s happening, and then their faces are close enough that Veronica feels the warmth of breath, and Betty’s lips press softly against her cheek before she pulls back and it’s almost as if nothing had happened, if it weren’t for the fact that Veronica can feel how scarlet her cheeks must be.

“Or something else, sometime,” Betty says. “We can talk about it, maybe?”

“Definitely.”

Betty squeezes her hand under the table and the quiet hum of neon lights above them says all the rest that needs to be said.

**Author's Note:**

> Betty grew up with FP and Alice (and Charles), Jughead grew up with Hal and Gladys (and Polly and JB), Archie grew up with Hiram (and Hermosa), and Veronica grew up with Fred and Hermione. Kevin's mom and Penelope got married, so Kevin grew up a Blossom. And Cheryl was left in a basket on the Kellers' doorstep. Betty, Jughead, and Kevin grew up fully knowing the truth about their family dynamics, while Veronica and Archie did not (and Archie still doesn't, at this point int he timeline). Cheryl knows she's adopted and has guessed she's a Blossom because of the red hair thing, but she doesn't know for sure.


End file.
